Leo's Bodyguard Bust

Two of Leonardo DiCaprio's bodyguards arrested in Jerusalem after scuffle breaks out with paparazzi at a holy site; actor in the country with Israeli-born model Bar Refaeli

By Gina Serpe Mar 13, 2007 7:33 PMTags

It wasn't quite the coming of the apocalypse, but all hell did break loose at one of Jerusalem's holiest sites Monday.

Israel police apprehended two members of Leonardo DiCaprio's security team and issued restraining orders against local photographers after a scuffle broke out between the bodyguards and members of the paparazzi near the Western Wall.

The 32-year-old Departed star was taking a private tour of the wall's tunnels at the time, accompanied by his 21-year-old Israeli-born girlfriend, model Bar Refaeli.

Sources told E! Online that the fight took place after the comely twosome emerged from the tour to be met by a throng of paparazzi waiting to chronicle their every move.

A security team helped DiCaprio and Refaeli make one of their signature ballcapped, covered-faces exits from the site, allowing them to make a safe, albeit "insane" and "out of control," getaway in a chauffeured white van.

However, the fight did not break out until after the twosome had successfully made their escape.

After they left, two members of their security remained at the venue and quickly got into an altercation with photographers who had failed to get their money shots. A group of seven particularly annoyed cameramen took their case to the Israeli police, claiming they were assaulted by the two bodyguards that DiCaprio left behind.

The two men were rounded up and questioned by police, who were investigating the hows and whys of the fight breaking out, and, after hearing both sides of the snap-happy story, opted to side with DiCaprio's camp, releasing the bodyguards and instead declaring the paparazzi to be "out of line."

The source told E! Online that the Israel police issued 30-day restraining orders to seven of the more aggressive members of the camera-clad throng, prohibiting them from approaching the couple for the duration of their stay.

DiCaprio and Refaeli have been dodging paparazzi since their arrival in Israel earlier this week.

They were hoping to touch down quietly into the country on Sunday night, though unfortunately—and rather ironically—their flight from Frankfurt happened to be packed with a group of Israeli entertainment reporters who were returning from reviewing the musical Mamma Mia! in Dublin, per Israel's Haaretz newspaper.

So much for a low-key arrival.

The fanfare immediately began, with photographers staking out the suburban Tel Aviv home of Refaeli's family, where the couple is staying during their visit. Such is the anticipation over their trip that one news agency has even gone so far as to fly a helicopter over the home to more thoroughly canvass the property for any missed photo ops.

The DiCaprio bodyguard bust isn't the first time A-list security has  tussled with overseas photographers.

Last October, one of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's bodyguards was caught on video grasping a camera-wielding paparazzo by the neck before forcibly pushing him away from the happy couple.

Meanwhile, DiCaprio and his Sports Illustrated-posing girlfriend, who also stopped at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial museum during their trip, are expected to depart the country either today or tomorrow for the comparatively calmer paparazzi pastures of Los Angeles.